Well, where to start? So, Sam has a broken leg, and after undergoing an hour long surgery, he’s now sporting a blue full-length cast (and at a pretty penny too). Though he came home a little moody, he’s since bounced back and is now close to his normal, aloof self. He’s on restricted mobility for the next six weeks, meaning he can no longer frolic about as he once did. Worried that he’d soon break his other leg, we purchased a five person tent which is now his new home. It’s strange to go down Emily’s basement stairs to find Sammie standing in the middle of a large tent, but, that’s the way it has to be. Thankfully, Craig is somewhat stable, so Erin’s been staying the night over at Emily’s to keep Sammie company. It’s a tough situation since Sammie won’t be fully functional for another six weeks. We’ll have to double our shuttle bussing to make sure he’s recovering well. But if Craig's condition turns, we'll have a more difficult dance ahead. A gimpy kitty on top of everything else: it’d be funny if not so tragic.
In the meantime, Craig has stabilized, somewhat. His heart rate has fallen thirty ticks since last week, but he’s still breathing well. People nearing the end typically have an elevated heart rate, indicating a heart in stress. A low heart rate could indicate heart failure, but Craig is still oxygenating around 98%, so it appears his body is recovering slightly from last week. This is not to say Craig’s other symptoms have disappeared. The wound near his tail bone has deepened and now threatens to expose the bone. And like a B-rated horror film, Craig's thrush is back and is covering his entire mouth, despite four weeks of Diflucan.
Craig seems more irritable, and understandably so. Diflucan was his best option against the mighty thrush. We’ve bought acidophilus and grapefruit seed extract as a supplement to Diflucan to see if natural remedies may help. It’s a gamble, but with a virulent strand of thrush, we’ll take our chances. As for his tail bone, we’re applying a morphine gel directly to the open sore, but short of suspending Craig in air or plunging him into a water bath, there’s little we can do to relieve the pressure. Turning on his side hurts his stomach/tumors; flopping on his back hurts his tail bone; and lying on his belly is completely out of the question. His pressurized mattress offers no relief. Craig's hospice nurse, Sandy, visited today and increased his morphine ‘bump’ by another milligram to help him with the relentless pain.
As Proust says: "It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to recognize that we live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom, whole worlds apart, who has no knowledge of us and by whom it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body." True.
-- J
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